Flying home today

Well we're up! It's early! Fran's arriving soon to have breakfast with us and the cab is picking us up at 8. 

We've had a fantastic holiday but we are looking forward to seeing everyone back in Australia. Of course, there are mixed emotions for Jennie as she says goodbye to Fran and James. 

We enjoyed a lovely meal last night at a tapas restaurant in Balham. We said our final goodbyes to James. It was so lovely to get to know James better - he is such a lovely man. 

On another note, the Lion King was amazing! We'll tell you all about it when we return!

Cruising on the river

Today we had a very leisurely day but managed to fit in quite a bit of sightseeing.  We had good intentions of seeing Hampton Court Palace but as it was quite rainy we decided to take a cruise to Greenwich (at Ann's suggestion) and take in the views! We enjoyed a different commentary each way and despite the weather, the views of London from the boat were wonderful.  Seeing the Tower of London in gloomy weather seemed somewhat appropriate and hearing the history of the various wharves and areas of London was fascinating.  We loved the Tower Bridge.  Fran had packed a picnic lunch thinking that we'd be able to picnic in the palace grounds so we had a lovely gourmet lunch on board the boat.  I think everyone else was jealous as they ate their boat food (that's what I like to think anyway!!)

Being a rainy day, the boat wasn't full of tourists so it was very comfortable! The commentary on the way to Greenwich was reasonably informative and fairly casual but on the return trip it was a pre-recorded commentary which was much more informative and even had sound effects! We wondered why the captain who provided the first commentary couldn't have made the swishing noises of the water or the sound of horses' hooves on the cobblestones! Fairly slack really! 

When we arrived back at Westminster we found some band aids for Franny's feet! She decided to wear boots today as it was a bit cooler but her feet weren't used to being closed in so she had blisters.  Once that was all sorted (are you enjoying the detail?), we were back on the tube to visit the Burrough markets where we had a lovely cuppa and some wickedly delicious crepes.  I loved the old buildings in the market place and we got to taste some cheeses and fudge and turkish delights - all on tasting platters for our culinary delight. Jen decided that a visit to London wasn't complete without a trip on the top deck of a double decker bus so we caught the bus to Oval and then the tube back to Balham. We've just returned from having dinner with Fran and James at a lovely Italian restaurant just down the road from our accommodation in Balham. It sounds like we ate all day but I can assure you that there were times during the day when we weren't eating! 

It's hard to believe we only have three nights left here.  We're very excited about seeing The Lion King tomorrow and we discovered that there is an exhibition near the theatre which is displaying tube art from the last 150 years. The Covent Garden flea markets are also close by. I'm also hoping I might be able to surprise an ex student of mine who is now working in Covent Garden.  I'm not sure what her roster is but it'd be great to see her.  

Ann, we were inundated with people trying to sell us replicas of the Eiffel Tower! All for one euro! I think I'd forgotten to mention them because at that stage we had done so much walking that we thought we were never going to find the boat.  We later discovered that the closest metro station was literally across the road from where the boat was docked! It was another situation of misinformation! 

I've found an app for the iphone called snapseed which edits photos so I've had a go at editing and enhancing some of the photos I took today.  I actually like some of the photos which I took through the window of the boat - it demonstrates the gloominess of the day quite well. 

I'm getting excited about coming home again and seeing everyone - and the pets of course! Can't say I'm too excited about the plane trip though! 

Sam is due to land in Sydney very soon and will get a lovely surprise as Alex, Alan and Teddy will be there to meet her at the airport.  They felt it would be nice for Sam to see family when she arrives back in Australia.  I'm so pleased they've done that, especially after the hassles she had in Los Angeles. 

Last night at dinner 

Tower of London

Our picnic lunch!

The E stands for execution.  This is where pirates were hung and left to hang until three tides had covered them.  Lovely stuff! 

The gates to Westminster City

Egyptian gift to London of an Obelisk called Cleopatra's needle which is 3,500 years old

I love Big Ben! 

Westminster Cathedral in view while Fran applied her band aids!

Houses of Parliament

Burrough markets

Jen got to pat a cute dog on the double decker bus

A quiet day in Balham

We think we've recovered from the heat of Paris!  London is significantly cooler and a little showery at times so it's much more manageable! 

Ann, it was lovely to hear from you.  I didn't mean to make anyone feel guilty for not commenting.  Life is busy! Usually on a blog it gives you an idea of how many views there have been but I think because I'm using an iPad, I'm not seeing that.  Comments help me to know that someone is reading it! 

Today was fairly quiet.  We did a few things around Balham with Fran, had acupuncture treatments which we'd booked before the wedding and for which Jen was well overdue.  Paris really took it out of her! Tonight we had the most delicious curry ever at a favourite haunt of Fran and James, at Tooting. 

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Westminster to take a boat cruise up to Hampton Court (King Henry VIII's palace).  We liked your idea of a cruise to Greenwich Ann,  and then we remembered that someone suggested going by boat to Hampton court as well, so we are doing the leisurely cruise down the river with some history thrown in as well. The boat stops at Kew Gardens as well so we might have a look at them - depends on how we're going for time. Fran is able to come with us tomorrow so that'll be fun too.

Then on Wednesday we have tickets booked to see The Lion King.  I'm really looking forward to that! Fran is joining us for that too.  Unfortunately she returns to work on Thursday so Jen and I are thinking of catching the train to Brighton for the day. And then we leave for Brisbane on Friday at midday.

Sam has had some bad luck with her flights.  Her flight from Newark to LA was delayed and she missed her connecting flight to Sydney by ten minutes.  This meant she had to find accommodation in LA overnight as the next flight wasn't for another 24 hours.  The airline gave her a discount voucher but she only had $30 cash on her so I had to write an email to the hotel saying that I gave permission for her to use my credit card details with photos of my card and ID - what a rigmarole.  Then because I tried using my card in a dodgy shop in Paris, my bank has frozen my debit card and Jen had to go through the process of emailing the hotel with her card details! Thank goodness I have a travel card as well which I can transfer funds into. If I was relying on my Australian card, I'd be up the proverbial creek! Anyway Sam was sorted, she got some sleep and is now back at the airport waiting for her flight to Sydney! Thank goodness for Wifi and smart phones! 

The silly photo

The good photo! At the Indian restaurant

A random street in Tooting! 

And this is for Audrey .... Lizzie says hello.  You can see the cat takes prominence over poor little Emma, the border terrier who is looking on enviously! 

Back in London again

Fran, Jennie and I arrived back in London today at around 1pm.  James was very lovely and met us at Kings Cross for lunch so that he could then drive us back to Balham.  St Pancras station is lovely and we had lunch across the road at Kings Cross at a place called Caravan which is in an old granary. We felt a bit seedy this morning as we didn't get back from our river cruise until about 12.30am and it was well and truly after one by the time we got to sleep. In our usual style of things we just made it to the train on time.  This was largely because the customs process was quite slow and the lines were long.  The we had to walk a long way along the platform to get to coach four.  The whistle was being blown as we boarded the train! It's all excitement here! (With a bit of stress thrown in!)

The river cruise was just gorgeous.  Neither Jennie or I really had an appreciation for the beauty of Paris until we saw it from the river.  The lights were just gorgeous and we couldn't get over how beautiful and varied the bridges are that cross the Seine.  There were so many impressive sculptures and statues on the bridges that I went a bit crazy with the camera but because it was night time the photos are not fantastic.  The Eiffel Tower at night time is is quite stunning although it was flashing in disco style at one stage and that didn't really impress us too much! I really feel like we needed to stay in Paris for at least another week so it's another place I'd like to come back to.  However I won't be staying on the 8th floor of any building that has a dodgy lift and I probably won't come back in summer.  It was just way too hot especially on the metro which doesn't have air con.  

Jen went straight to bed when we got back to Balham at about 3.30. I wandered into town to top up the credit on my phone and managed to find a couple of gorgeous baby outfits for the baby which is due to be born only four or five weeks after I return! Yay! 

There was a storm brewing and we thought Jennie might take off with her balloooooning outfit (that's just a bit of Kath and Kim humour!) 

Fran ordered snails for starters which Jennie tried but I didn't! I'm so not adventurous! Jen only had one so Fran enjoyed the rest

Notre dame - not the best shot

We were being just a bit silly on the metro!

Some beautiful swans at Kings Cross today

We loved the saucer chairs in the metro

Camden (on way back to Balham)